Monday, September 17, 2007

I don't know how I feel about this. On one hand, I have been a fan of Dr. Keyes because he's a Constitutional scholar who has taken consistent positions on following the founding father's advice on limited federal government. In fact, his article "On the establishment of religion: What the Constitution really says" is one of the most eloquent defense of states rights that I have read. I forward it to people all the time. His short lived MSNBC show was a favorite of mine (it was the first time I had ever heard anyone make a Constitutional argument for putting the military to work on the border).

On the other hand, when he runs for office, he's like Susan Lucci, the Buffalo Bills, and the dude who just wants to be friends with chicks because eventually they'll grow to be attracted to him all rolled into one. They all never get to grab the brass ring. He lost to Obama for the Illinois Senate seat by capturing only 30% of the vote (Obama literally got the other 70%).

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I don't make any secret about where my vote and support is going, and maybe if Dr. Paul weren't running I'd throw my vote to Dr. Keyes. But Alan Keyes just doesn't generate the same sort of visceral reaction that Dr. Paul gets (good and bad). Hearing Dr. Ron Paul's message sounds right. When he takes a position say on the war on drugs, he defends it by saying that yes, there may be negative consequences to ending the drug war. But, following Ben Franklin's timeless dictum "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." What price in liberty have we paid for "safety" in the war on drugs? On the war on terror? Maybe the reason that people are flocking to his campaign realize we are getting to the point where we are ending up with neither liberty or safety.

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When a thousand Republicans are in a room and one man of the eight on the stage takes a sharply minority viewpoint on a dramatic issue and half the roomseems to cheer him, something's going on.

Dr. Paul has always said that it is the message that is important. To see someone say things on national TV what I have thought for years literally makes my jaw drop, and I never get tired of hearing it. Apparently I'm not the only one.